Cold Start
by Sikon
Summary: AU continuation of The End of Time. An unexpected interference messes with the Tenth Doctor's regeneration, resulting in a completely different Eleventh - who will now have yet another mystery to solve on present-day Earth.


The Tenth Doctor stood in his TARDIS, defeated. With horror, he looked aside, preparing for the inevitable as his machine headed away from Earth...

"I don't want to go."

He was scared, yes. But he was also prepared. None of his previous selves received such forewarning, well in advance, about an impending regeneration. While the prospect of someone completely unlike him replacing him, someone who was at this point a complete unknown, unsettled him greatly, he was warned. And while he did not _want _to yield to this new man, he was mentally ready to.

And then —

The monitors on the TARDIS console flashed.

Something, suddenly, took possession of it. The Doctor paused and looked away from his now-glowing hands, staring at the controls. Instead of accelerating away from the planet, the TARDIS was now heading _towards _it, along with a five-year jump into the future.

_What the... Who could possibly..._

_

* * *

_

"Gramps?"

A rundown alleyway in Chiswick.

Donna Noble was in her formal black suit with a dark red shirt underneath, the exact same one she wore when— huh. She had a feeling that she was doing something important the last time she wore this, but could not quite pinpoint what it was. And this place... it was not far from her home, yet somehow she felt that she didn't just walk here randomly, that it was connected to something important she did here before.

_This is all getting irritating, seriously._

"Gramps!" Donna shouted again. "I just called Penny, and guess what — she says yes! Now just let me run things through Shaun, take care of the cake and decorations and—"

A strangely familiar sound. No, wait, it was completely unfamiliar. She was sure she never heard it before... or did she? It seemed to come from all directions, very close to her, like something invisible was in the air and surrounding her. A distinct creaking sound, fading and repeating...

And then she remembered.

* * *

"Hello."

The Doctor instantly turned away from the console and onto the ledge behind him. Standing there was a distorted hologram of... himself, speaking in his voice. Except he did not remember ever making this recording.

The holographic Doctor folded his arms. "If you are watching this, then you must be about to regenerate, and hopefully this time without any cop-outs involving severed hands. Having your memories, I can reasonably anticipate what you are about to do with her. A full Time Lord, you do not understand the emotional consequences of your actions so clearly, and as such I have installed the necessary precautions."

Bzzt. The recording turned off.

The regenerative substance reached his head now, but he did not care about it anymore. He heard the sound of the TARDIS materializing. Outsmarted by his own half-human copy, in the final moments of his life. Unthinkable. Preposterous.

And then — he saw Donna fading in right in front of him, clearly terrified, blinking rapidly and holding her head.

"Doctor!.. Doctor, it burns..."

Without saying a word, with one final movement defying the body refusing to obey his will, he stretched his arms forward and embraced her — just before his senses completely failed him, and violent streams of regeneration energy released from his limbs, wrecking the console room and spreading fire around the two of them...

**

* * *

**

**DOCTOR WHO**

"**Cold Start"**

Wilf dragged himself through the dusty alleyway, cautiously looking under his feet. He nearly slipped on an empty plastic bottle, presumably tossed here by young people not of the most sophisticated mold, and furiously kicked it away.

"Donna? You called for me?" He turned around the corner, leaning on the cold concrete wall... and then he gulped and rubbed his eyes as he saw—

The TARDIS. Except now, flame was bursting out of its windows, and the lamp on the top was blinking, its light slowly fading in and out.

"Doctor?" The old man ran to the TARDIS door and knocked on it anxiously, three times. "Doctor, have you seen Donna? Are you all right?"

For about a minute, there was no response.

Then the door opened by itself, very quickly; Wilf instinctively jumped back. Smoke came out, and when the view cleared a bit, he could clearly see that the console room was ablaze, with chunks of broken coral pillars scattered around.

And right in front of his feet lay the Doctor and Donna's garments. His blue suit, with his longcoat some distance away; her black jacket and skirt. Sticking from under the pile of clothes was a head belonging to a woman he didn't know, and a pair of bare feet.

"Oh, that's different..." mumbled Wilf.

The stranger in the TARDIS opened her eyes and, groaning, looked down. "Oh, that's new..." she said as her unseen hands bumped up under the clothing. Then she looked up at Wilf, narrowed her eyes, and hastily covered the other clothes with the Doctor's coat. Hastily she pulled on the Doctor's loose trousers and Donna's red shirt, and stood up, looking down at herself in disbelief.

"Hmm, let's see! Arms, legs... All in place. Well, that's better than I expected..." She put her hands just below her breasts. "Hearts! Both working. Now how about— Blimey! Still not ginger!" she exclaimed, pulling a strand of her black hair in front of her eyes. Blinking rapidly again, she pointed at Wilf. "Oh! You! I had something to tell you... something important... Let me think. Remember, brain, remember!.."

Wilf took a few steps back, eyeing the strange woman. She looked distinctly off — apart from the fact that she stepped out of a burning TARDIS with no Doctor in sight. A head taller than him and non-curvy, she only had her face and mildly protruding chest to discern her gender. And her face looked featureless, like a blank canvas waiting to be painted on; pronouncedly round, with clean, smooth cheeks, outward rather than inward like Donna's. Messy, uncombed pitch black hair; similarly black eyebrows, thick and contrasting with her light skin; and grey-green eyes with prominent lashes, squinted as if in suspicion.

"Who are you?" asked Wilf. "Where's the Doctor?"

"Doctor..." The woman bit her lower lip, turning her eyes up. "Yes, right, I was the Doctor. You can still call me that, I think!" She walked forward and put her hands on Wilf's shoulders, leaning on them. "So, what was it... Time Lords, radiation booth, TARDIS, clone— No, wait, that's not it. No, wait, that's exactly it! Or... Or was I right here? Ah yes, I remember now!"

The 'Doctor' smiled triumphantly, looking straight into Wilf's eyes.

"Happy birthday, grandpa!"


End file.
